Vehicle seats

ABSTRACT

Upholstered bench-type seat for a mass transit vehicle, and particularly for a subway or commuter train car, has hidden fastening members for anchoring the upholstered cushion to a hollow seat shell or frame. The cushions are protected against vandalism in that they cannot be removed from the seat shell without deforming them in a particular manner which would not be obvious to anyone not familiar with their construction.

ilnited States Patent 11 1 Lowe Oct. 15, 1974 VEHICLE SEATS 3,632,159 1 1972 Barecki 297 451 1 1 Inventor Frederick Lowe Northampton, 21223133; 31333 2231,1350;11111313111111;3? Z3714? England 3,747,978 7 1973 Barecl ti 297 445 Assigneez Universal Products p y, 3,761,130 9/l973 SUZUKI t. 297/445 Des Plaines, Ill. Primary ExaminerCasmir A. Nunberg [22] Flled' 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James R. l-loatson, Jr.; [211' App]. No.: 345,034 Barry L. Clark; William H. Page, II

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT I Apr. 1 l, l972 Great Britain l6547/72 Upholstered benckbtype Seat for a mass transit vehicle and particularly for a subway or commuter train car, [52] Cl 297/445 297/455 47 3 has hidden fastening members for anchoring the uP- holstered cushion to a hollow seat shell or frame. The Cushions are protected against vandalism in that y [5 1 Fm d of Search 33 cannot be removed from the seat shell without de- 7/455 45 457 forming them in a particular manner which would not 5 References Cited ltaizlolbvious to anyone not familiar with their construc- UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,230,007 1/1966 Spangler et al. 297 450 x 6 Clam, 6 Drawmg F'gures PATENIEU am 1 51914 sum 20F 5 FIG. 3,

PAIENTEDBBI 1 51974 SHEET 3 BF 3 VEHICLE SEATS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION covering material or who remove entire cushions from the seat frame and toss them out the windows or doors of the train. Since it is necessary that the cushions be removable to replace the covering material-when it becomes worn it has been conventional to anchor the cushions with either exposed fastening members or to merely snap the cushions into and out of engagement with the seat frame by pushing or pulling on them. These conventional fastening methods obviously provide little or no protection against vandals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is among the objects of theinvention to provide a seat for a mass transit vehicle which is lightweight, economical to produce, rugged, durable, and which has a seat and back cushion which is easily assembled or disassembled to or from the seat frame by an authorized person but which cannot be readily disassembled by an unauthorized person not familiar with the internal structure of the seat frame and cushion.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved by the seat of the present invention which comprises a hollow seat shell having upholstery secured to the front face thereof. The upholstery includes foam padding mounted on a frame with facing material covering the padding and being attached to the frame. The frame is shaped to fit against the seat shell and includes a plurality of spaced apart fastening means which cooperate with fastening means on the seat shell to anchor the upholstery. The respective fastening means are readily fastened to each other by applying pressure to the upholstery and underlying frame but are incapable of being unfastened except by deforming the upholstery or associated seat parts in a specific manner which is not evident from an examination of the exterior of the seat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of one form of vehicle seat in accordance with the invention, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through the seat;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the upper part of FIG. 1 showing greater detail;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the seat;

FIG. 4 is a detail of the upper right hand portion of the seat construction;

FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view of part of the seat; and

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to that of FIG. 5 show- I ing the seat assembled together with a glass panel and trim.

The main components of the vehicle seat comprise a generally hollow L-section plastic seat shell 10 which is supported above the floor of the vehicle by a rigid base 11, the shell 10 having plastic foam upholstery 12 on its front face which is secured by vandal-resistant fixing means.

The seat shell is, in effect, of double skin construction comprising a back part forward portion 10a, a seat part upper portion 10b, a seat part lower portion 100, and a back part rearward portion 10d. The back part forward portion 10a and seat part upper portion 101) are formed in one piece by molding a mat of fiber glass impregnated with polyester resin (or other resin impregnated fiber) onto a suitably shaped former or mold (not shown). The lower portion of the seat part is made from the same material on a shaped former or mold, (not shown) and the edges of the resin impregnated mat both of the upper portion of the seat part and lower portion of the seat part are trimmed to match one another and after coating along the exposed edges of the impregnated mats with a sealing coat of resin, the two formers are bolted together (not shown) to bring the edges of the two resin impregnated mats into close contact.

After the resin has been cured, the molds are unbolted from one another and the one forming the lower portion of the seat part is readily removed but separation of the other mold from the remainder of the molding is effected by injecting compressed air between the mold and the molding through removable parts (not shown) of the mold at the junction between the seat part upper portion 10b and back part lower portion 100. It will thus be seen that the molding so far produced will be in the shape of an L of hollow double skin construction except for the back part rear portion which is formed as a separate back panel.

Such a back panel 10d is also formed by molding in the same materials as the remainder of the seat on a suitably shaped former or mold.

In the particular seat illustrated in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 of the accompanying'drawings, the vertical sides of the back part forward portion 10a are inwardly stepped to receive therein an aluminum-extrusion framing or trim 13 which extends over the full height of the back part and beyond to provide a vertical hand grip and the framework for a glass panel 14 disposed vertically above the back of the vehicle seat. The top edge of the back panel 10d is downwardly stepped to provide a channel shaped recess for receiving the lower edge of the glass panel.

The base 11 of the seat is formed as an aluminum casting in the shape of a box having four vertical sides, the sides being flared at their lower end. The whole, or substantially the whole, of one side of the box-shaped base is made removable to permit heating equipment (not shown) to be fitted into or withdrawn from the space within the box-shaped base, this wall of the base being formed by a lower portion bolted into the corners of the box and a perforated panel which is locked in position by means of vandal-resistant catches (not shown).

In assembly of the components of the seat so far described, the resin-bonded fiber seat shell is bolted to the base 11, the aluminum trim 13 is fitted to the base and to the sides of the seat shell, and the glass panel is fitted into the horizontal upper run of the aluminum trim and the recess of the top of the back panel of the seat. The aluminum framing 13 is bolted to the seat shell and base and the glass panel is then locked in position by the application of the back panel. This is fitted on its inner side with captive nuts 15 into which are threaded bolts 16 which have been passed through openings in the back part forward portion 10a of the seat.

All that remains is to fit to the assembled seat the foam upholstery. This is formed by molding a seat skin from polyvinyl chloride or other suitable facing mate rial, the skin after, or simultaneously with, molding being backed by a cushion of polyurethane foam or the like. The upholstery is then fitted with a four sided frame 17 of aluminum strip which extends along the four edges of the foam and is held in position by folding the edge portion of the seat skin over the aluminum strip and securing it in position by metal clips or adhesive (not shown) or both. Cut-outs are formed in the skin which overlap the metal strip to allow positioning of vandal-resistant attachment means.

These attachment means comprise, a number of metal tongue-shaped hooks 20 rigidly fixed to the plastic molded seat opposite the upper and lower horizontal sides of the frame 17 and extending upwardly with respect to the upper side of the frame and-forwardly with respect to the lower side of the frame, each hook positioned to engage behind the adjacent side of the frame 17. Along each of the two lateral sides of the seat upholstery, a number of locking devices 21 are rigidly secured to the metal frame 17 for engagement over a corresponding number of separate pins 22 bolted to and projecting perpendicularly from the seat shell 10. In particular, these locking devices 21 and corresponding pins 22 are of the type in which the locking device has a central aperture for the reception therein of the pin with a spring wire detent projecting into the central aperture to lockingly engage under the head of the pin in such a way that it is only released by tilting the locking device in one direction and pulling it away from the pin. The pin is engageable into the aperture of the locking member by a sharp downward blow applied to the locking member after having been placed on the head of the pin. Such devices are commonly referred to as a lift-the-dot device (Registered Trademark). The locking devices 21 are fitted along each of the lateral sides of the metal strip 17 and oriented so that they are releasable only by tilting of the strip in an upward and outward direction.

The upholstery is therefore fitted onto the seat molding by first fitting the upper and lower sides of the frame 17 over the hooks 20 and then applying the locking members 21 of the lateral sides of the frame over the corresponding headed pins 22 and driving them home by striking them lightly with the fist. It will be appreciated that once the locking devices have been put in position and locked, the seat cushion 12 can only be released by lifting the upper and lower ends of the seat cushion frame off the associated hooks, involving distorting the frame 17 between the hooks in order to grip the frame, and then releasing the locking devices by manipulation from a position between the seat cushion and seat shell. Since the hooks and locking devices are covered, neither their location nor the sequence of release operations will be known to a vandal, but trained personnel knowing such location and sequence of operations will be able to release and replace a damaged seat cushion without difficulty.

The profile of the seat part and back part is preferably such as to recess the upholstery into the sides of the seat part and of the back part to reduce wear on the side edges of the upholstery and more particularly to prevent a vandal from inserting his fingers under the sides of the upholstery.

Although the manufacture of the seat shell from resin reinforced with fiber glass has been described above, other materials can be used, for example the seat shell can be made of polyurethane by the S.U.P. (solid urethane plastic) technique, or of other thermoplastic or thermosetting casting material, the material being cast in a mold. In particular the seat shell can be cast in one piece in such materials.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle seat comprising a hollow seat shell and upholstery secured to the front face thereof, said upholstery comprising foam padding mounted on a frame formed of a metal strip extending around the periphery of the padding and covered by a facing material attached to the frame, the frame being shaped to fit against the face of the seat shell and removably secured thereto by fastening means spaced apart around the shell, said fastening means including hook members secured to the seat shell which engage over the frame and locking devices each comprising a part fixed to the frame and a part fixed to the seat shell, the two parts being capable of interlocking by movement of the frame toward the seat shell in a direction perpendicular thereto, but incapable of separation except by tilting of one part relative to the other, said fastening means being inaccessible without deformation of the upholstery or associated parts of the seat.

2. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein two opposite sides of the frame are secured to the shell by said locking devices and the other two sides of the frame are secured to the shell by hooks secured to the shell and engaging the frame, the arrangement being such that the locking devices cannot be released until the side of the frame secured by the hooks have been released from such hooks.

3. A vehicle seat according to claim 2 wherein the hooks are located along the upper and lower edges of the frame.

4. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is recessed and receives therein part of a metal frame which extends above the seat and is adapted to support a glass panel.

5. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is mounted on and secured to a hollow metal base.

6. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is shaped as a bench seat. 

1. A vehicle seat comprising a hollow seat shell and upholstery secured to the front face thereof, said upholstery comprising foam padding mounted on a fraMe formed of a metal strip extending around the periphery of the padding and covered by a facing material attached to the frame, the frame being shaped to fit against the face of the seat shell and removably secured thereto by fastening means spaced apart around the shell, said fastening means including hook members secured to the seat shell which engage over the frame and locking devices each comprising a part fixed to the frame and a part fixed to the seat shell, the two parts being capable of interlocking by movement of the frame toward the seat shell in a direction perpendicular thereto, but incapable of separation except by tilting of one part relative to the other, said fastening means being inaccessible without deformation of the upholstery or associated parts of the seat.
 2. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein two opposite sides of the frame are secured to the shell by said locking devices and the other two sides of the frame are secured to the shell by hooks secured to the shell and engaging the frame, the arrangement being such that the locking devices cannot be released until the side of the frame secured by the hooks have been released from such hooks.
 3. A vehicle seat according to claim 2 wherein the hooks are located along the upper and lower edges of the frame.
 4. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is recessed and receives therein part of a metal frame which extends above the seat and is adapted to support a glass panel.
 5. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is mounted on and secured to a hollow metal base.
 6. A vehicle seat according to claim 1 wherein the seat shell is shaped as a bench seat. 